


Power

by raktajinos



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Female Friendship, Gen, Girl Power, Sparring, post season two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-28
Updated: 2014-10-28
Packaged: 2018-02-22 23:36:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2525834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raktajinos/pseuds/raktajinos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thea knows now what it feels like to be strong, to feel powerful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Power

**Author's Note:**

  * For [crookedspoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crookedspoon/gifts).



She slowly cracked the door open and peered in, seeing only darkness down the stairwell. Entering, she held the door so it closed silently, clicking as it locked into place. She'd been down here before, but only once. Roy had been severely injured and it was then that Oliver had confessed his secret identity to her. She had been too concerned for Roy to be angry with Oli then, but she was angry now. Now that Roy was out of the woods.

She'd never really gotten a tour of the "arrow cave" as Felicity had called it, as she'd spent the entire time at Roy's side. But she knew they were out on some mission, a mysterious "Amanda" having called Oliver earlier at dinner (where'd he'd been trying to convince Thea of his remorse. So she'd crept down to look it over privately. 

Her heels clicked loudly as she took the last step onto the hard concrete floor. The lighting around the central hub clicked on as the sensors noticed her presence. A clinical illumination filled the room, bouncing off impersonal metal walls. She instinctively missed her old home, memories of the wooden walls recalling in her mind and the way all the light seemed to blend in with it, not harshly bounce off it like this space. 

The lab was a lot larger than it appeared to be, not wasting electricity on lighting up the entire space. From what she could see at the edge of the darkness was rows of crates and boxes, no doubt containing extra weapons and tech. 

She paused in front of the large glass case that held the Hood costume, the ominous way it facelessly stared down at her making her uncomfortable. She was still so angry with Oliver, that he'd never confided this part of his life to her. She would have been able to handle it. She would have been proud of him. And Roy. Stupid, beautiful Roy, working alongside him. She knew she'd forgive them both, part of her was already, but she wanted to make them suffer for a little bit. 

She moved over to Felicity's computer desks, the three large monitors all alight seeming to be doing something important. Maps, gps trackers, a police audio stream and half a dozen other things she didn't recognize. Thea only looked, smiling when her eyes caught the tiny Sailor Moon toy positioned underneath the one monitor. 

A loud clang of metal on cement startled her, her body automatically going into a fighting stance. A loud "fuck," followed it and she turned to follow the source of the noise. 

Around the side, tucked behind the staircase was a large workout facility, with enough equipment to start their own gym. And there on the floor in the middle of the mats was a small blonde woman, rubbing the side of her head with her hand. 

"Hey," Thea called out, walking toward the mat. 

Felicity startled, jumping on the mat as she whipped her head around. 

"Oh, hey. I must have missed the alarm saying you entered...real good on security there Smoak...you startled me," she said rambling as usual. 

Thea smiled. She liked Felicity, had since the first day she'd met her - even though she's been too caught up in her own drama to be anything but a brat to her. 

"Whatcha doing?" she asked, eyeing the large wooden stick laying on the mat next to her, recognizing it immediately. 

"Bow practice. I'm not bad at it...I just sometimes hit myself in the head with it...which isn't really a great defence mechanism, taking yourself out for your opponent. Hahaha," she said, slowly standing back up and reclaiming her balance. 

"You okay?"

"Oh yeah, totally fine," she smiled, squaring her shoulders as if that would make it more definitive. 

"You...umm...want a sparring partner?" Thea asked hesitantly, debating whether it was really smart or not to showcase her new skill set to anyone. 

"You fight?" Felicity asked, with only a hint of surprise in her voice. 

"Haha, yeah. Learned some things while I've been away,"

"Well you wouldn't be a Queen if you didn't go off to a tropical desert island and learn how to fight. Naturally," she said teasingly. 

Thea grinned, kicking off her heels and removing her leather jacket. 

"I have some spare gym clothes if you want to borrow them," Felicity said, nodding towards an open locker set against the wall. 

"Yeah, that be great thanks," she said, walking over and grabbing some clean clothes, exchanging her leather and silk for some more practical spandex. She put on an extra pair of shoes that were in the locker too. 

"Sometimes I spare with Laurel, her height gives her an advantage..." Felicity said as Thea joined her on the mat, picking up a bow. 

"If you know how to balance, work on your core strength, our short stature can actually be a huge asset," she said, demonstrating a movement that kept her body low to the ground. 

"If I ask where you learned that will you tell me?" 

Thea just grinned in response. 

"Ya, that's what I thought. K, well, wanna slow that down so I can learn it?" she asked. 

The next hour was spent with Thea teaching Felicity a few moves that were best suited for short people, and to Thea's delight the other woman picked it up rather quickly. Granted, Thea wasn't teaching her like she had been taught so it wasn't as brutal. Felicity could hold her own however, she wouldn't be easy to take down in a fight. 

"Ha! I'll be able to surprise Laurel with some of these next time," Felicity said, chest heaving with exertion.

Thea rubbed her face with her shirt, trying to clear the sweat from her eyes, grinning, proud she'd been able to teach what she'd learned to someone else. 

"Though um, Oliver isn't supposed to know that Laurel trains here...with me...he stupid about it. As if saying no will stop her. And it shouldn't, she should learn to fight if she wants to. So um, ya...if you could not mention it to him that would be awesome," Felicity said, a pleading worried look on her face. 

Thea frowned, her brother was stupid. Everyone should be able to feel strong and be able to fight if they wanted to. Before these past few months, she had no idea what she was missing. She had no idea how powerful she could feel in her own body, to be strong and independent, to build muscle and focus. It was powerful. She was powerful. And everyone, every woman, deserved to be able to feel this way. 

"Not a problem," she said, rolling her eyes at her brother's stupidity. 

She would keep Laurel's secret. Maybe she'd even help her. 

"Next time we should try swords," 

"Swords? Like with sharp edges?" Felicity asked, voice slightly squeaky. 

"Yup! You're going to love it,"

**Author's Note:**

> I know you wanted Harley Quinn, but I don't know her at all, so I hope you like this with the two characters you did tag. :).


End file.
